Yu Darvish Fans 10, Blanks Mariners in Texas Win; Ike Davis, Lucas Duda Lead Mets over Nationals

Players of the Day for Friday, April 19, 2013

American League

Yu Darvish

Texas picked up a game on AL West leader, Oakland, as the Rangers took the first of a three game series with visiting Seattle by a 7-0 score, behind the brilliant pitching of starter Yu Darvish.

Improving his record to 3-1, Darvish scattered three hits and three walks over seven complete innings, blanking the Mariners while fanning 10.

Texas bats erupted for six runs in the fifth inning to give their ace plenty of breathing room, though Darvish took a seat after seven, having thrown 111 pitches. Robbie Ross and Michael Kirkman completed the mound duty, each allowing one hit in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

The series resumes Saturday night, at 8:05 pm EDT in Arlington.

National League

Ike Davis

Lucas Duda

The highly-anticipated pitching duel between Washington Stephen Strasburg and the Mets' Matt Harvey was worth the price of admission to Citi Field, especially for Mets' fans, who saw Strasburg get splattered by the middle of New York's lineup and Harvey work seven strong innings for a 7-0 victory.

Harvey allowed four hits and the lone Washington run while fanning seven while Ike Davis and Lucas Duda each belted a pair of homers to power the Mets' win. Davis hit the first of his two in the sixth and Duda followed later in the inning, both solo shots off Strasburg. In the eighth, the duo did it again, Davis crashing his third of the season - a two run blast - and Duda following up with his second solo shot, his fifth of the season, both bombs coming off reliever Drew Storen.

The result left the two teams 1/2 game apart in the standings. Washington is 9-7, the Mets stand at 8-7, with two more match-ups this weekend. Both are chasing the Braves in the East.

NOTABLE: It's been tough to slow down the Atlanta braves this season, but Pittsburgh's Wandy Rodriquez proved it could be done, blanking the Braves on one hit - a fourth inning single by Jason Heyward - over seven innings, en route to a 7-0 victory. It was just the third time the Braves have suffered defeat. They lead the NL East by four games with a 13-3 record.

Matt Joyce Homers to Put Rays into First; Ike Davis Helps Mets Sweep Phillies

Players of the Day for Wednesday, May 9, 2012

American League

Tampa Bay's Matt Joyce experienced exhilaration and pain on one swing, belting a three-run, ninth inning home run off Yankee closer David Robertson, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 game winner, evening the three game series in the Bronx at a game apiece.

Matt Joyce

Joyce delivered a line shot to the right field stands, but twisted his left ankle on the swing, falling over home plate before getting up to limp around the bases. The pain was evident on his face, and his teammates treated him with kid gloves as he made his triumphant return to the dugout.

After taping up the ankle while on the bench, Joyce returned to the outfield for the bottom of the ninth, switching from left to right, where he watched Fernando Rodney pick up his second win of the season with two innings of relief. Jeff Neimann turned in seven solid innings for the Rays, allowing only a run in the first, when Robbie Cano doubled home Derek Jeter from first.

The blown save was the first for Robertson, in his second closer appearance since replacing injured Mariano Rivera.

With the win - and Baltimore's rainout with Texas - the Rays took sole possession of first place in the AL East by 1/2 game. The Blue Jays are three back, the Yanks, 3 1/2 behind with the Red Sox mired in last place, 7 1/2 out.


National League

Ike Davis

Back in 1969, when they captured the World Series, the Mets were called "the Amazing Mets," or, simply, "the Amazin's." The current crop of New Yorkers has the kind of chemistry that could rekindle the kind of fan attention that made the Big Apple crazy back in the day.

Completing a sweep of reigning NL East champion Philadelphia with a 10-6 win, the Mets find themselves in the thick of the division battle, 1/2 game back of Washington and Atlanta, who share the lead, though the Nationals hold a slim .006 percentage edge.

It was the first sweep in Philadelphia by the Mets of a three-game series since June of 2006, the unlikely star, first baseman Ike Davis and his .167 batting average. Davis blasted a three-run homer in the 8th inning that broke open a contentious ball game, after singling and scoring the go-ahead run in the seventh. He finished 2-for-4, raising his batting average 12 points, to .179. The breakout homer could mark the low point for Davis, who batted .264 in 2010, and hit .303 in an injury-shortened 2011.

The Mets came from behind in each of the three games, taking advantage of the Phillies' struggling relief staff, sending them into last place in the division, five games out.

Hernandez Blanks Indians; Davis, Tejada Lead Mets to 18-5 Smashing of Cubs

Players of the Day for Sunday. September 5, 2010 American League It's been another long, fruitless season in Seattle, the Mariners having been hopelessly out of any post-season contention since June. While the team has struggled to score runs and win games, starting pitcher Felix Hernandez, the unblemished ace of the staff, has remained resolute and ferocious on the mound. Despite and 11-10 record, achieved via his latest outing, eight solid shutout innings over the Cleveland Indians in a 3-0 triumph the numbers Fernandez has produced are startling: a 2.30 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 209 strikeouts, which leads the American League. Hernandez fanned nine on Sunday, allowing a mere four hits, walking one. The Indians barely touched his pitches; the hits were all singles. David Aardsma relieved in the ninth, getting the side in order, for his 28th save, itself quit an accomplishment on a team that's won only 54 games and has the third-worst record in the majors. National League Some of the runs scored by the Mets in their 18-5 lambasting of the Cubs might have been better used spread out over a number of games. The Mets, one of the lowest-scoring teams in the NL - better than only Houston and Pittsburgh - took batting practice on Ryan Dempster and five relievers, banging out 21 hits and their season-high in runs. Rookies Ike Davis (left) and Ruben Tejada (right) led the assault. Davis went 4-for-6 with a double and a home run, scored three times and drove in three. Tejada, who entered the game batting .185, went 2-for-4 and drive in five runs. Tejada got a run home in the second with a sac fly, singled in two more in the 5th, hit his first major league homer in the 7th - a solo job - and was issued a bases-loaded walk in the 9th. Tejada raised his batting average to .193, though the smooth shortstop is batting .320 over his last ten games. PENNANT NOTES: There were no changes in the AL races, as the Yankees and Rays both lost, keeping the Yankees 2 1/2 ahead in the East. Chicago and Minnesota were both winners, so the Twins remain 3 1/2 ahead in the Central. In the NL East, both the Braves and Philles lost. Atlanta remains one game in front. San Diego continued to stumble, losing their 10th straight game, a 4-2 loss to the Rockies, who completed the sweep and now trail San Diego by 4 1/2 games. The Giants topped the Dodgers, 3-0, closing the gap between themselves and the Padres to one slim game. The Dodgers head to San Diego for a three-game set beginning Monday, while the Giants play at Arizona and Colorado hosts Cincinnati.